Objective 4

Support and expand an online resource center that shares research and promising practices worldwide. The AccessSTEM website has been regularly updated and expanded and numerous publications and presentations have resulted from project efforts. It includes pages for CoPs, events, project publications, and the AccessSTEM Knowledge Base of Q&A’s, case studies, and promising practices.

Evaluation Thus Far

To ensure high quality, products undergo a rigorous development process.

Target Outputs

Publications listed in the approved grant proposal include CBI proceedings, publications for potential audiences that include disability services professionals, STEM educators and employers, veterans-serving organizations, and STEM project directors. It was projected that at least five articles would be published, two in peer-reviewed journals; the number of AccessSTEM Knowledge Base articles would grow from 300 to 400; and the level of website access would increase from 30,000 to 60,000 hits per month.

Actual Outputs

The AccessSTEM Knowledge Base has grown to include 395 articles (40 case studies, 298 Q&As, 56 promising practices); an additional 221 articles have been updated. The AccessSTEM website was accessed 70,000 times in April 2011. Staff, partners, and student participants have distributed more than 20,000 copies of publications and engaged in more than twenty presentations and exhibits at conferences. Publications created and distributed thus far include twenty-one issues of Opportunities! newsletters and four faculty publications (including legal issues, universal design, accommodations, and campus resources) that were tailored to each partner campus. Six peer-reviewed journal articles and four other papers have been published. Staff and partners have created thirty-one project publications, sixteen since the last annual report. These include

Early Outcomes and Evidence of Impact

The quality of the project website, including the Knowledge Base, and project publications were also favorably reviewed by the external evaluator and reported in the second annual report; this process will be repeated by the current project evaluator. She will also evaluate whether distribution methods have been effective. In addition, responses to surveys and anecdotal feedback regarding project products from partners, participants in project activities, and recipients of products have also been positive.

Universal Design

Education/Employment

Funding for AccessSTEM and the AccessSTEM Knowledge Base is provided by the National Science Foundation (RDE awards #HRD-0227995 and #HRD-0833504). The contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the U.S. federal government, and you should not assume their endorsement.